Glossary

All the Intellectual Property (IP) generated during the course of a research project. May also be known as ‘Foreground IP’.

Audit Certificate

It is a requirement by the European Commission that costs claimed during the life of the FP6 project need to be supported by an Audit Certificate.

KPMG auditors will sample expenditure items based on the transaction reports produced by the Faculty Research Services teams and check that, e.g. costs are actual and that the items of expenditure do not include VAT, other indirect taxes or profit elements.

B

Background Intellectual Property (IP)

All the Intellectual Property in existence prior to the commencement of the research project. The definition of Background IP may also include IP created after the commencement of the research project which is generated outside of the research project. This IP may also be defined as ‘Sideground IP’.

C

Certificate on the Financial Statement

It is a requirement by the European Commission that once the cumulative requested EC Contribution reaches €375,000 on an FP7 project, the costs claimed must be support by a Certificate on the Financial Statement.

KPMG auditors will sample expenditure items based on the transaction reports produced by the Faculty Research Services teams and check that, e.g. costs are actual and that the items of expenditure do not include VAT, other indirect taxes or profit elements.

Confidential Information (also called Know-how)

Non-public ideas and information, such as know-how, data, technical data, contracts, documentation, presentations, business plans, formulas, products, specifications, rules and procedures, product plans, business methods, product functionality, services, formats, methodologies, applications, developments, processes, payment, designs, drawings, algorithms, marketing or finance. The term of any confidential information or know-how can be infinite, as it continues until the confidential information or know-how is disclosed publicly.

Confidentiality

The provisions in a research contract concerning the secrecy of information exchanged between the College and the funder, as well as the results of the work and the agreement itself.

Copyright

Copyright is the right to prevent the copying of original literary, artistic and musical works, e.g. text, graphics, software, data, art, music. Copyright arises automatically whenever such a work is physically recorded and does not require registration. Copyright protection normally lasts for the lifetime of the author plus seventy years, although there are some exceptions.

College Authorisation

College Authorisation is the administrative sign-off that informs the funder that Faculty Approval to submit / execute the application / agreement has been granted.

D

Directly Allocated Costs

Costs of resources used by a project that are shared by other activities. They are charged to projects on the basis of estimates rather than actual costs, e.g. investigators’ costs, estates costs. Directly allocated costs are one of the cost categories used to calculate the Full Economic Cost of a research project.

Directly Incurred Costs

Costs that are specific to a project, charged as the cash value actually spent and supported by an audit record, e.g. research staff costs, consumables. Directly incurred costs are one of the cost categories used to calculate the Full Economic Cost of a research project.

F

Faculty Approval

Faculty Approval seeks to ensure that: all relevant parties are consulted, and are in agreement with, the strategic direction of the research; that the capacity and resource and infrastructure implications have been properly considered and planned for; that the application/contract terms and conditions (financial and contractual) have been considered; that the regulatory requirements (health and safety, environmental, research governance framework for health and social care, human tissue act etc.) have been considered and satisfied; and that all other issues such as reputational consideration, commercial implications, adherence to College strategy and policy etc. have been addressed.

Faculty Research Services

Encompasses the following devolved research administration teams:

- Faculty of Medicine: Joint Research Office pre-award and post-award- Faculty of Engineering/Imperial Business School: Research Services and Research Contracts- Faculty of Natural Sciences: Research Services

Foreground Intellectual Property (IP)

All the Intellectual Property (IP) generated during the course of a research project. May also be known as ‘Arising IP’.

Full Economic Cost (FEC)

The Full Economic Cost of a research project represents the cost of all resources needed for that project, irrespective of what the Funder will pay. Full Economic Costing is the standardised costing methodology for research used by all UK Higher Education Institutions and is the application of the TRAC methodology at research project level.

I

Imperial College Information System (ICIS)

ICIS is the College's main management information system. ICIS includes a wide range of Oracle Financials modules including:

Non-specific costs charged across all projects based on estimates that are not otherwise included as Directly Allocated costs, e.g. general office and basic laboratory consumables; Library services; Finance; HR. Indirect costs are one of the cost categories used to calculate the Full Economic Cost of a research project.

InfoEd Proposal Development (IPD)

A browser-based module used by College to develop, cost, price and internally approve all externally funded research applications.

InfoEd Proposal Tracking (IPT)

InfoEd Proposal Tracking (IPT) streamlines the management of funded research by acting as a central data manager of both pre- and post-award information. It is used by Research Services and provides a single reference point for tracking the key details of proposals, including the budget, protocols, subcontracts, subprojects, reports and associated communications and documents.

Intellectual Property (IP)

Intellectual Property is the term used to describe creative outputs that can be legally protected arising from scientific, engineering, literary and artistic endeavours such as the results arising from research.

To distinguish the results or outcomes of a research project they are often referred to as Arising or Foreground IP, whilst IP created prior to or outside of entering into a particular contract is often referred to as Background IP.

Intellectual Property can be categorised into two groups: the first requires registration (the registration process may involve corresponding with an examiner before the Intellectual Property Rights are granted) (e.g. patents); the second arises automatically on creation of the IP (e.g. copyright).

Inventor

Inventor(s), under UK patent law, are 'the actual devisers of the invention'. This refers to those who had the original idea, specified and, in some cases, executed the subsequent project. Hence, at College an inventor is any individual (regardless of their job title) that makes an inventive contribution to an invention. However, this does not include skilled technical assistance, except where an associate followed a path of their own, maybe against instruction or conventional teaching, and subsequently produced data in support of the patent application. Nor does it necessarily include superiors in the organisation who have provided advice, encouragement, finance or a facilitating role.

K

Knock-for-knock

A term which reflects the College’s interdependent relationship with its associated NHS Trusts, e.g. the College’s Clinical Academics provide patient services to the NHS, and NHS Clinicians provide teaching to the College. Neither party cross-charges for these arrangements (the burden of doing this would be too onerous), but absorbs the costs themselves. The assumption is that the net effect is neutral, i.e. both the College and NHS receive the same level of service.

Know-how (also called ‘confidential information’)

Non-public ideas and information, such as know-how, data, technical data, contracts, documentation, presentations, business plans, formulas, products, specifications, rules and procedures, product plans, business methods, product functionality, services, formats, methodologies, applications, developments, processes, payment, designs, drawings, algorithms, marketing or finance. The term of any confidential information or know-how can be infinite, as it continues until the confidential information or know-how is disclosed publicly.

L

Liability and Insurance

This refers to the legal obligation of the funder and/or the College when committing a wrong or default on the contract. In such an instance, whoever commits the act will be responsible or liable for it. In many instances liability is limited to a specific value to mitigate the financial risk. Insurance provisions cover the financial aspect of liability, but may also cover any warranties or assurances that may be given on particular points in the contract.

O

Oracle Grants

The Oracle financial module used by College for the management of research funding. Oracle Grants is part of Imperial College Information System (ICIS).

P

Payment Terms

The method, frequency, currency and amount of payment the Funder may agree to.

Price

The amount of money that a funder is willing to pay and the College is willing to accept in support of a specific research project.

Principal Investigator (PI)

The person to whom the research project is assigned. The PI takes responsibility for the intellectual leadership of the research project and for the overall management of the research.

Project Full Time Equivalent (FTE)

The Full Time Equivalent (FTE) is the amount of time an employee works as a percentage of full time, e.g. a researcher employed for 12 months for 2.5 days per week would equate to a FTE of 0.5 (50%) for that year. The Project FTE is the sum of the FTE for researchers (both academic and research staff) and project postgraduate students, and is a key driver in the calculation of the Full Economic Cost of a research project.

R

Recovery

This is the percentage difference between the Full Economic Cost and the Price. Full recovery (100%) is where the funds received meet the costs in full (FEC = Price). Under recovery is where the funds received do not meet the costs in full (FEC > Price). Over recovery is where the funds received are in excess of the cost (FEC < Price). Over-recovery provides an institutional surplus whereas under-recovery requires an institutional contribution.

Reports2Web

The Reports2Web service is available to provide administrators and investigators with convenient and easy access to the Research Project Management Report suite. Automated emails are forwarded to Principal Investigators, first Co-Investigators and departmental administrators on a monthly basis. The emails contain links to the relevant reports for each research project.

Administrators and Investigators can log on directly to Reports2Web at any time to view reports for relevant Awards. Reports2Web can be accessed with the same user name and password as Windows Start Up.

Request to Recruit and Advertise

This form is used to initiate the advertisement process. The outcome is funding approval of the post being advertised. When the Faculty Research Services teams receive a completed Request to Recruit and Advertise form, they will check the salary details against the budget to ensure that the staff budget is not over-committed. They will also check that the advert meets the funder’s terms and conditions. For example, the funder may not accept the appointment of a Technician if the application to the funder states that the post is for a research assistant.

This report provides a summary ‘bank statement’ that shows monthly and total spend against a budget heading.

Spend Detail Report

This report provides a detailed transaction listing, and includes reference numbers and descriptions of spend for any specified range of months, including overhead and FEC contribution information.The Investigator version of this report does not have details of Overheads or FEC contributions.

T

Termination

The agreed provisions under which each party may end a research contract. These may include particular notice periods, the payment of outstanding costs, or return of information or materials provided under the contract.

TimeSMART

The College’s electronic timesheet system used by technical staff working on research projects.

Transparent Approach to Costing (TRAC)

This is the standard methodology used by Higher Education Institutions across the UK to determine the cost of three main activities at an institutional level: Teaching, Research and Other. Introducing TRAC was a government requirement and an outcome of the Government’s 1998 Transparency Review.

Summary of the table's contents

Definition of research for REF2014

For the purposes of the REF, research is defined as a process of investigation leading to new insights, effectively shared.It includes work of direct relevance to the needs of commerce, industry, and to the public and voluntary sectors; scholarship; the invention and generation of ideas, images, performances, and artefacts including design, where these lead to new or substantially improved insights; and the use of existing knowledge in experimental development to produce new or substantially improved materials, devices, products and processes, including design and construction. It excludes routine testing and routine analysis of materials, components and processes such as for the maintenance of national standards, as distinct from the development of new analytical techniques. It also excludes the development of teaching materials that do not embody original research.